Sewing machine attachment



, June 17, 1958 T. F. MULKEY SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Filed Oct. 1,1956 ll J H n. wIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAv.

INVENTOR. 770y Ff Mu BY ,7)

May

A TTORMFK nited States Patent Ofiice 2,839,018 I Patented June 17, 19582,839,018 SEWING MACHINE ATTACHMENT Troy F. Mulkey; Independence, M0.Application October 1956, S'e'rial'No. 613,302

1 Claim. (Cl.'112'-'-139) This invention relates to a sewing machineattachment specially adapted for laying a cord along the seams ofupholstery or the like, the primary object being to facilitate carryingout such operation with a minimum amount of time and effort and topresent a strong, neat appearing joind'er between the panels to whichthe said cord is secured.

it has heretofore been the practice in production of seat covers and thelike to employ a number of stitching steps in order to sew a cord inplace with respect to the marginal edges of a pair of panels. Theoperator would be required to first fold a binding strip over the cordand secure the same in place by a first line of stitching along the cordin interconnecting relationship to the overlapping marginal edges of thebinding strip. Thereupon, the binding strip is conventionally secured toone of the panels by a second line of stitching and finally, a thirdline of stitching would become necessary to attach the binding strip tothe other of the said panels.

Manifestly, such method is time consuming and does not necessarilyresult in a stronger or neater appearing finished article. Therefore, itis the most important object of the instant invention to provide amethod which eliminates all but one of the lines of stitching and whichmethod may be carried out through employment of a novel attachment for aconventional sewing machine.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide anattachment that includes as a part thereof a binder in the nature of aloop for holding the binding strip in folded relationship to the cord asthe binding strip is stitched in place to a pair of panels therebetween.

Another important object of the instant invention is to provide anattachment that includes a presser foot or the like for holding the cordfirmly in place within the fold of the binding strip as the strip andthe panels are fed simultaneously through the stitching mechanism of thesewing machine.

A still further object of the instant invention is to provide in theaforementioned attachment means for positively and accurately guidingthe panels as the same are fed with the bin-ding strip and the cord inthe manner above indicated.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sewing machine attachment madepursuant to the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view of the attachment entErely removed fromthe sewing machine.

Fig. 3 is an edge elevational view of the attachment.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 1V-IV of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line V-V of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 6 is a fragmentar, cross-sectional view taken through the finishedarticle produced through use of the attachment in the manner illustratedby Figure l.

The attachment illustrated in the drawing and to which the instantinvention relates, is broady designated by the numeral 10 and isemployed in connection with a 2 conventional sewing machine broadlydesignated by the numeral 12. As initially indicated hereinabove,attachment 10 isdesignated to facilitate laying of a cord 14 within abinding strip 16 that is in turn connectednto a pair of panels 18 and 20therebetween by a single line of stitching 22.

The attachment 10 per se includes a suitable support which may be in thenature of a block 24 provided with one or more openings 26, permittingattachment directly to bed 28 of machine 12 through use of suitablefasteners 30, next adjacent stitching mechanism 32 of themachine 12.

One edge 34 of the block 24 serves as a guide for panel 18 when theattachment is placed in use and a hook 36; on the upper faced the block24 guides the panel 20, functioning additionally to limit the extent ofupward movement of the panel 26.

-.A-binder 38 inthe nature of a loop is adapted to receive the 'strip 16and is preferably formed as an ire tegral part of a plate 40 secured tothe lowermost face of block-24. Loop 38 is dispsed between the marginal,edgesof the panels 18 and 20- in the manner shown in Figure 1whenthe-attachment 16* is placed, in use. Prior to insertion-ofthebin'd-ing strip 16 into the-loop 38 and into a second loop 42, thestrip 16 is folded about the cord 14 and to the end that the latter isheld firmly within the fold of strip 16, plate 40 is provided with anL-shaped finger or presser foot 44 extending across the loop 38 at themouth thereof.

It is seen in Fig. 3 that the foot 44 presents a pair of spaced-apartslots 46 and 48 that receive the marginal edges of the folded strip 16as the foot 44 prevents displacement of the cord 14. The distancebetween the slots 46 and 43 and, therefore, the width of the foot 44,should be substantially the same as the diameter of .the cord 14.Similarly, the terminal end of the foot 44 should be spaced from thebight of loop 33 and the maximum diameter of the elongated loop 38should be such as to provide freedom of sliding movement of the edges ofthe strip 16 along the bottoms of the slots 46 and S3.

Loop 42 is aligned with the loop 38 and disposed between the edge 34 ofblock 24 and guide hook 36. its size, shape and configuration isessentially the same as that of loop 38, but in practice it has beenfound that it is unnecessary to duplicate the cord holding means 44 inthe loop 42.

It is apparent from the foregoing that when the attachment 10 is placedin use, the panels 18 and 20, the cord 14 and the strip 16, are fedsimultaneously to the stitching mechanism 32 in order to interconnectthe panels 18 and 20 with the strip 16 by the single line of stitching22. It is but necessary to initially fold the strip 16 about the cord 14and to insert the same into loops 36 and 42 to start the operation.Thereupon panels 18 and 20 are positioned properly above and below thefolded strip 16 in a position for guiding along the edge 34 and alongthe hook 36 respectively. Manifestly, the block 24 is positionedproperly on the table 28 with respect to the stitching mechanism 32 tothe end that when the parts to be thus assembled are fed along theattachment 10, the line of stitching 22 is formed next adjacent the cord14, thereby confining the same in place within the strip 16 along itsline of fold.

The finished article appears substantially as shown in Fig. 6 of thedrawing in transverse, cross-section when the panels 18 and 20 areseparated exposing the fold of the strip 16 along the outer surface ofpanels 18 and 20. The edges of the panels 18 and 20, as well as the twoedges of the folded strip 16, will be in contiguous relationship becauseof the fact that panel 18 is guided by edge 34, panel 20 is guided bythe hook 36, and the edges of the strip 16 are guided by the inner endsof notches 46 and 48, all of which are in alignment. Within the loop 42the edges of the strip 16 are guided by that portion of edge 34designated by the numeral 34a in Fig. 4 of the drawing. The edge 34a islikewise aligned vertically with the edge 34.

It is apparent from the foregoing that after the strip 16 is initiallythreaded into the loop 38 with its marginal edges extending into theslots 46 and'48 in engagement with the bottoms of slots 46-48 and withthe cord 14 disposed within the fold of the strip 16, the binder 38,cooperating with the foot 44 and notches 46-48, will automatically foldthe strip 16 about the cord 14 and the same are fed continuously throughthe loops 38 and 42 and with respect to the stitching mechanism 32.

Having thus described the invention what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

A sewing machine attachment usable therewith in sewing a cord in placeWithin a binding strip and joining the strip to a pair of panelstherebetween with a single line of stitching, said attachment includinga mounting block provided with a front, vertical, elongated guide edgeand adapted to be mounted on the machine adjacent the stitchingmechanism; a plate secured to and extending laterally from the block; abinder on the plate for receiving the strip and said cord and holdingthe strip l folded about the cord as the same are fed toward saidstitching mechanism, said binder including a first loop integral withand extending forwardly from the plate beyond said front edge of theblock for receiving the folded strip, the axis of said loop beingsubstantially parallel with said edge of the block and a finger integralwith the plate, extending into said first loop and adapted to engage thecord for pressing the latter into the fold of the strip; a second loopon the block, extending forwardly from said guide edge and disposed incoaxial alignment with said first loop for receiving said folded strip,said vertical edge on the block being disposed for engagement by onelongitudinal edge of the lowermost of said panels; and a hook element onthe block and extending forwardly from the upper margin of said verticaledge thereof for engagement by one longitudinal edge of the uppermostpanel and adapted to partially overlap the same.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS272,847 Bea Feb. 27, 1883 273,915 Turner Mar. 13, 1883 320,043 BrighamJune 16, 1885 1,444,894 Winkelmann Feb. 13, 1923 2,542,212 Schaad Feb.20, 1951

